By Madison Disney
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
After reviewing Gov. Larry Hogan’s Oct. 16 executive order that lifted certain coronavirus restrictions, Mayor Bernard C. Young announced Friday that the city will allow fans into M&T Bank Stadium for today’s Ravens’ game.
Under the city’s plan, 3,000 fans will be seated in the lower bowl, 500 fans in suites, and 800 in club level, authorizing a maximum of 4,300 fans.
“This exception takes into consideration the amount of thought and detail put into the Ravens’ protocols, as well as the size of the location and distancing possible,” Young said in a press release. “We are working to do as much as we can to make this a safe experience for fans.”
Hogan lifted restrictions due to the current state of health metrics regarding COVID-19.
“With our key health metrics low and stable, we are taking steps to allow more spectators, including fans of the Baltimore Ravens and Washington Football Team, to safely attend games in the stands,” Hogan said in a press release in mid-October.
Maryland’s coronavirus cases have been ticking upward since the governor’s executive order. There were more than 900 news cases on Friday and 864 new cases yesterday.
The state’s test positivity rate has also slowly climbed from under 3% in mid-October to 3.84% today, according to Maryland’s coronavirus dashboard.
The state is still under the 5% positivity rate threshold recommended by the World Health Organization before re-openings can occur.
Lucia Mullen, who works alongside her colleague Crystal Watson to gather data on contact tracing by looking at facilities in different states and tracking the amount of tracing and where it is the most impacted, said the opening is a step in the right direction for Maryland. She believes the governor, mayor and NFL Association are making a smart choice in following through with this plan.
“I have worked quite extensively on this since the start of this pandemic, and since we’re looking at bringing them to a very large outdoor area – which we know risk is quite low for — and as long as litigation and proportional measures are implemented properly (which is why we are making sure we start with a smaller number), it should be fine,” Mullen said.
Although Mullen expressed her appreciation for the initiative in the plan, she said she is concerned about how long the safety guarantee in letting fans back into the stadium will last.
“Where my concerns are, are in enforcing some of these measures,” Mullen said. “If we’re taking detailed contact information, temperatures and not allowing some people to come in, and having different entrances and exists to maintain social distancing at all times I see this going well. But my questions are if they are planning on having any concession stands open, or multiple lines to maintain social distancing, or where the spectators are from and how they’re behaving.”
The university trackers also look at case studies at other sports events to see if their policies and plans are working for them according to their positivity rates. Mullen and her colleagues agree that it is important for initiatives to be adaptive and take the unpredictability of the coronavirus into account when allowing venues to open.
One of the team’s initiatives to maintain safety is keeping the upper bowl closed until further notice so social distancing can be practiced easier. Tailgating is also prohibited as far as 1,000 feet away from the venue.
Robert R. Neall, the secretary of the Maryland Department of Health, said through a spokesperson that while there are still cases emerging in Maryland, reopening the stadiums should be safe given the safety procedures worked out between the NFL Players Association and state government.
“This was a collaborative effort over the last several months that included doctors, public health experts, the NFL and the NFL Players Association,” Neall said. “Spectators are required to continue to maintain a safe physical distance from others, wear a mask and avoid large gatherings while watching sporting events.”
John’s Hopkins University’s coronavirus tracker has two staff members working on fielding surveys every six weeks. Previous measurements showed that the positivity rate was 5.53%, over the 5% recommended positivity rate for reopening venues.
The Raven’s management team has taken initiatives to make reopening safe for fans and employees after retracting their earlier plan to reopen in August. Team president Dick Cass and the team plan to watch the virus’ stats and make decisions based on the guidance of local and state public health experts.
“We are excited to welcome fans back,” Cass said. “Whether we have fans, this season is entirely dependent on the coronavirus.”
The Ravens’ Team is working to put guidelines in place such as different entrance and exit options for fans to maintain social distancing after games and limiting employee and fan-to-fan interactions as much as possible.
Maryland will also follow the same guidelines as other states by looking at season ticket holders and holding a ticket lottery. According to Biz Journal, after the city’s final approval for this process in filtering fans in, the process began Thursday.
NFL Player’s Association said they will continue to update their website for updated guidelines on how to prepare for COVID-19 protocols, and what to do if one is sick. However, the communications representative from the association was unavailable for comment.